Academia Quote by William Safire
“What do you call a co-worker these days? Neither teammate nor confederate will do, and partner is too legalistic. The answer brought from academia to the political world by Henry Kissinger and now bandied in the boardroom is colleague. It has a nice upper-egalitarian feel, related to the good fellowship of collegial.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: Language and Politics, The New York Times, 1998
The term “colleague” replaces older, hierarchical labels, emphasizing equality and shared purpose in modern workplaces.
In simple terms: “leagueleague” means equal coworker.
Key Takeaway
Use “colleague” to foster collaboration.
Themes
workplace equality
language evolution
team dynamics
Mood
neutral
professional
Type
descriptive
informative
When to use this quote
- corporate meetings
- team projects
- HR policies
Key Concepts
social semantics
organizational culture
Questions to Reflect On
- How does terminology affect workplace hierarchy?
- When might “colleague” feel insufficient?
A Different Perspective
May sound overly formal in casual settings.
![“See that the mind is honest, first; the rest may follow or not as God wills. [That] the fundamental treason to the mind ... is the one fundamental treason which the scholar's mind must not allow is the bond uniting all the Oxford people in the last resort.” quote by Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c74/dorothy-l-sayers-738_academia_see-that-the-mind-is-honest-first-the-re_16293.jpg)
